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If we’re going to have a peaceful existence, they have to understand our perspective.”Īrguably more important was the second part of Brandon-Croft’s mission, which was to speak on politically-charged issues through a Black woman’s perspective and create characters that Black women readers could readily identify with. We know white people because we’re exposed to them, but they don’t know us. As she later explained in an interview with the New York Times, “If mainstream folk understood the black perspective better, they wouldn’t be surprised at the rage we’re holding. First, Brandon-Croft wanted white readers to fully grasp the struggles of Black Americans as people in their own right, not just characters that happened to be brown-skinned. Where I’m Coming From’s mission as a comic meant to affect change rather than just entertain was twofold. Eventually “the girls,” as Brandon-Croft referred to her characters, would not only span over 100 US cities, but also stretch across the diaspora by appearing in Jamaican and South African publications as well. Two years later she acquired signed a contract with Universal Press Syndicate, a press syndicate whose previous distributions have included some of comics’ most popular creations, such as Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, and Garfield, just to name a few.

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Despite this promising background, however, Brandon-Croft’s first attempts at publication in the 1980s failed when the Black women’s magazine Elan shut down, pushing her instead to write for the magazine Essence.įinally, in 1989, Brandon-Croft’s big break arrived when she published the first Where I’m Coming From strips in the Detroit Free Press. Both artists are even still considered the only instance of a father-daughter lineage in comic syndication history today. As the daughter of Brumsic Brandon Jr., a cartoonist made famous by his strip Luther which detailed the everyday exploits of a group of Black youth, Brandon-Croft began her career path at just 10-years-old by assisting her father’s work in order to earn allowance money. Graphic Novels: Suggestions for Librariansīrandon-Croft’s story roots itself in progressing family tradition just as much as revolutionizing the comic strip art form.Working With Libraries! A Handbook For Comics Creators.Know Your Rights: Student Rights Fact Sheet.Adding Graphic Novels to Your Library or Classroom Collection.Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read!.Kirkpatrick, NY State Court of Appeals (1973) Obscenity Case Files: Joseph Burstyn, Inc.

Des Moines Independent Community School District

Obscenity Case Files: United States v.

Pacifica Foundation (George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words) Obscenity Case Files: People of New York v.

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